Northern takes Garrett golf title by 1
SWANTON — Northern defeated Southern, 175 to 176, Thursday to win the Garrett County Golf Championship at Thousand Acres Golf Club.
Low individual scores turned in for Northern were by Caeman Feller with a 42 and Jeff Bittinger with a 42.
For Southern, Evan Friend turned in a 43 and Billy Gindlesberger a 43 as well.
Southern concludes the season with a 41-5-1 record.
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County funds set aside for gypsy moths
Bethany Rodgers
County funds set aside for gypsy moths
Originally published September 23, 2011
Frederick County is gearing up to battle gypsy moths in future months by setting aside funds for surveying and spraying.
The Maryland Department of Agriculture recently asked Frederick County officials to prepare to help combat the moths. Although the county hasn’t paid for gypsy moth surveying in the past two years, nearby Garrett County is planning to spray for the tree-damaging insect in the spring of 2012. The pattern shows the moth population in Frederick County lags Garrett County’s by about a year.
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Garrett bridge will be replaced
OAKLAND — The Swallow Falls Road Bridge that crosses the Youghiogheny River will be closed beginning Monday at 9 a.m. due to its continued deterioration, the Garrett County commissioners announced.
The county roads department will install a temporary bridge within the next six weeks that will accommodate loads of up to 40 tons.
The bridge is located about five miles outside Oakland. Questions can be directed to engineering director Dwight Emory at 301-334-7481 or County Administrator Monty Pagenhardt at 301-334-8970.
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Run For It Race Offering Grant Awards
Posted Wednesday, September 21, 2011 ; 05:58 PM
Updated Wednesday, September 21, 2011; 06:12 PM
It will be held Sept. 24
By Jeff Schrock
DAVIS — It’s still not too late to sign up for the annual Run For It Race in Tucker County.
The 2K and 5K are set for Saturday morning at 11 a.m. at the Davis Fire Hall.
Organizers will award more than $34,000 in race day grant awards to non profits, community projects, and charities in North Central West Virginia and Garrett County, Md. The race is held during the annual Leaf Peepers Festival.
Call (304) 478-2930 for more information.
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Hundreds of acres of Garrett County farmland preserved
Easement on property owned by state delegate will protect Bear Creek
Matthew Bieniek
The Cumberland Times-News Wed Sep 21, 2011, 11:27 PM EDT
OAKLAND — The state Board of Public Works on Wednesday approved funding aimed at preserving hundreds of acres of Garrett County farmland through preservation easements. Those acres include land owned by Delegate Wendell Beitzel and his wife. Beitzel has always been a strong supporter of rural land preservation programs.
“I was a county commissioner when we started to get into the rural legacy program,” Beitzel said. He put one of his farms under a preservation easement years ago. Beitzel’s current 86.5 acres, which he bought some time ago from relatives, is in the Bear Creek watershed.
“Bear Creek flows right through the farm, about half fields and half woods. … Bear Creek is one of the best trout streams in the county,” Beitzel said.
All forest management on the property will be in accordance with a Forest Stewardship Plan, the primary objective of which is timber production in support of Maryland’s timber industry, state Department of Natural Resources officials said in a press release. The easements help “permanent forest buffer on 2,990 feet of Bear Creek and its tributaries and extinguish 28 development rights,” state officials said.
“This easement protects Bear Creek and its tributaries, which are natural trout streams regularly stocked by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and forestland, which is important interior-dwelling bird and black bear habitat,” said Chad Fike, Garrett County Rural Legacy administrator.
The grants will help continue an aggressive program of land preservation, said Fike.
“It allows us to preserve important farmland and woodland in the county,” Fike said. “They’re basically selling their development rights to the property,” Fike said. The programs and preservation process are actually pretty complicated, Fike said. The state board allocated the funding under two different programs aimed at rural preservation.
The owners can sell the land, but the easement remains on the property, preventing future owners from developing the property as well. The allocation for Beitzel’s land was $454,766. Before he began his application to the program, Beitzel cleared it with state ethics officials.
“Delegate Beitzel filed a Form B disclosure and Form D disclaimer with the Maryland General Assembly Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics relating to this acquisition. In a letter from that committee, dated July 20, 2011, Delegate Beitzel was informed that his disclosure and disclaimer fully satisfy the requirements set out by the Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics for a legislator who is participating in the Rural Legacy Program,” read the DNR press release.
The exact amounts paid for the easements may vary once the process is finalized. Other county landowners entering the preservation programs have amounts in the hundreds of thousands allocated as well. The Public Works Board approved $179,069 for an easement of 72 acres with a provision allowing a dwelling on the property; an allocation of $277,611 for a 95.4 acre property; and $146,746 for a 50-acre property.
The Bear Creek Rural Legacy Area totals 31,437 acres of which 5,774 (18.36 percent) are protected, state officials said.
Contact Matthew Bieniek at mbieniek@times-news.com
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Bald eagle killed in Western Maryland
Natural Resources Police investigating shooting of protected bird
By Candus Thomson, The Baltimore Sun
4:17 p.m. EDT, September 19, 2011
Maryland Natural Resources Police is investigating the shooting death of a bald eagle that was found Friday in Allegany County near the Pennsylvania line.
The mature eagle was found by a farm caretaker along the banks of Evitts Creek, just west of Rocky Gap State Park.
“It was probably sitting in a tree when it was shot in the chest,” said NRP Sgt. Art Windemuth. “It couldn’t have been mistaken for anything else. It had the white head and tail and golden beak and talons. It was the American symbol in full plumage.”
A preliminary investigation indicated that it was shot with a rifle and that it had been dead less than a week, Windemuth said.
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2 more wind farms eyed in Garrett County, Md., home to state's first such projects
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: September 20, 2011 – 12:15 am
McHENRY, Md. — Wind-power developers are considering two new projects in western Maryland.
The Garrett County Commissioners are set to hear an update Tuesday.
County officials say Clipper Windpower is considering a project called Fair Wind on Backbone Mountain south of Oakland. It would be just south of a 28-turbine wind farm Clipper built that is now owned by Constellation Energy Group. The company, based in Carpenteria, Calif., didn’t respond to inquiries from The Associated Press.
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Garrett County Health Department sponsoring child safety seat checks
For the Cumberland Times-News
Cumberland Times-News The Cumberland Times-News Sun Sep 18, 2011, 11:13 PM EDT
CUMBERLAND — Is your child’s car seat among the nearly three out of four that are used improperly?
Despite the best intentions of parents and caregivers, many car seats are misused, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Free Child Passenger Safety Week educational events are being held at locations nationwide this week.
The Garrett County Health Department will be scheduling appointments to have a certified child passenger safety technician inspect car seats and provide hands-on advice and instruction.
The majority of parents do buckle their children in car seats, booster seats or seat belts. Yet every year, thousands of children are killed or injured in crashes. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children ages 1 through 12 years old.
So what are parents and caregivers doing wrong?
For one, the harness straps may not be fastened tightly enough. The seat may not firmly be attached to the vehicle or a young child might be seated in a forward-facing car seat when she is still too young or could still be riding in the rear-facing position. Or worst of all, a child may not be seated in a car seat or seat belt at all.
For a car seat to do its job, it has to be the right one for a child’s age and size. Car seats also must be installed properly to provide adequate protection, and they must be adjusted to fit the child securely.
Appointments are available at the following Garrett County Health Department locations and times:
• Tuesday at the Grantsville Office (28 Hershberger Lane) from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m.
• Thursday at health department’s Oakland office from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m.
To make an appointment, call the health department at 301-334-7730 or 301-895-7730.
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Garrett County to hold TweetFest
Garrett County to hold TweetFest
News-Tribune
Posted Sep 20, 2011 @ 07:33 AM
OAKLAND, Md. — McHENRY, Md. – The Garrett County Chamber of Commerce will hold a TweetFEST at http://twitter.com/garrettchamber on Friday, Sept. 23, from noon – 1 p.m.
The TweetFEST is designed to assist people with their vacation planning by providing travel tips and information on the Deep Creek Lake area and Garrett County, Md., over Twitter. Those with questions about Garrett County’s 44th annual Autumn Glory Festival are also encouraged to participate in the TweetFEST.
Tweet us your Deep Creek Lake & Garrett County, Md., questions Friday, Sept. 23, from noon to 1 p.m. by using the #askGarrettChamber hashtag. The Garrett County Chamber will have Twitter users available, live, to answer visitor questions in real-time.
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Garrett College ready to increase engineering, science, math programs
Michael A. Sawyers
Cumberland Times-News The Cumberland Times-News Sat Sep 17, 2011, 10:35 PM EDT
MCHENRY — With almost $265,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission, $183,000 from Garrett County commissioners and $82,000 out of its own pocket, Garrett College is ready to increase programs in science, technology, engineering and math.
“There is a nationwide push to put more American students in STEM programs,” said Jim Allen, interim dean of academic affairs.
The grants will support associate degree programs in math/science, electrical engineering and cyber-security.
In addition, a competitive college robotics team will be established.
“There are already 15 students and five faculty and staff signed up for the robotics team,” Allen said Friday.
Allen said three Garrett County employers already use, or anticipate on using, some robotics and would be potential workplaces for students.
“We are looking into the possibility of making the robotics program a two-year, career offering,” Allen said.
A Rural Entrepreneurship Academy will function via the college’s continuing education program. It will be a noncredit course.
The ARC funds, announced by Sens. Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski, will purchase smart boards, laptop computers and a server.
“STEM graduates are in demand to fill the jobs of today and the jobs of tomorrow,” Mikulski said.
“America’s future de-pends on our ability to embrace high-tech education and training needed for jobs in the 21st century,” Cardin added.
Allen said he hopes the new offerings will increase enrollment.
“We are certainly off to a good start in the very first semester of our electrical engineering program with 10 students choosing it as their majors,” he said.
The current college enrollment is at 777, according to an online source.
Contact Michael A. Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com
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